J.O. Combs School District begins virtual classes after teacher strike
A San Tan Valley district has scrapped its plan to reopen schools after too many teachers called in sick and delayed the start of the school year.
The J.O. Combs Unified School District abandoned the plan for in-person classes following a tense three-hour board meeting on Wednesday. The district instead launched virtual schooling on Thursday, and will evaluate state health benchmarks on Aug. 27 to decide when to reopen campuses.
Board members had voted to reopen schools starting on Aug. 17.
But teachers revolted, staging a sickout that forced the district to cancel all classes, virtual and in-person, for three days.
The school board meeting on Wednesday was emotional, with scores of parents describing onerous experiences with distance learning, while teachers said they did not feel prepared or safe enough to return.
“We have to build back a lot of bridges and a lot of trust that maybe this whole process has eroded,” Superintendent Greg Wyman said in an interview with The Arizona Republic. “The hard work is still to be done.”
Gilbert and Mesa saw turbulent school board meetings this week, too. For more than an hour in Gilbert on Tuesday night, some parents begged board members to open school buildings — while some asked to keep them closed. In Mesa on Wednesday, community members made similar pleas.
Testimonial after testimonial at every board meeting this week illustrated the dizzying decisions leaders are being asked to make: Should schools, pressured by parents, reopen now, despite the guidance from state health officials? What will they do when students test positive? And as one person asked: What will they do if they’re sued, in the event that an educator or student dies?
Bob D’Elena, who is on the Combs board, said board members have received sometimes conflicting guidance on reopening from state and federal sources.
“It has been left up to us, the local school board members, to sort through this material and vote on how and when to open our schools for in-person,” he
“We have to build back a lot of bridges and a lot of trust that maybe this whole process has eroded. The hard work is still to be done . ... We have mandates on how many people can be in a restaurant and what metrics you have to meet in order to open up a gym or how many people go to church on a given day, but then when we get to public education, it’s a recommendation.”
said.
The pressure is on, particularly in the East Valley: The Queen Creek Unified School District and a handful of charter schools have reopened. Parents have threatened to pull their children out of schools only offering distance learning and enroll them instead in the few schools that have reopened. Teachers have resigned.
The state unveiled health metrics this month to help school leaders decide when to reopen. The metrics in most parts of the state indicate that it is not safe to reopen.
However, the state did not mandate that communities meet those benchmarks before reopening.
To complicate the debate, a school in Tucson closed on Wednesday after staff members tested positive for COVID-19, raising statewide concerns over reopening.
Wyman said the lack of mandate from the state has left school leaders without a clear idea of what to do.
“We have mandates on how many people can be in a restaurant and what metrics you have to meet in order to open up a gym or how many people go to church on a given day, but then when we get to public education, it’s a recommendation,” he said.
East Valley debates reopening
J.O. Combs, Mesa Public Schools and Gilbert Public Schools all saw fierce deGilbert’s bate between parents, staff members.
The J.O. Combs meeting was marked with several tense moments. Some parents condemned the teachers calling in sick.
“Our district is breaking the longer this goes on,” Kara Dawson, a parent, said. “We have families that have supported the Combs District for years and years that are leaving.”
Dave Nelson, a Combs high school teacher, was interrupted by members in the crowd when, in an emotional speech, he said the decision to reopen schools endangered children and teachers.
“I have a bottle of blue stuff and a rag,” he said. “I don’t have gloves. I don’t have the things that you want me to protect your kids with. This is the problem. This is why we did what we did and it isn’t just union members.”
A group of Combs teachers has vowed to call out sick until the community meets all three health benchmarks, showing minimal to moderate COVID-19 spread instead of substantial spread, according to a public letter released this week.
Enough staff members have called out to leave the district unable to hold school.
Shelly Hargis, the board president, said they only had about 30 substitute teachers to cover those calling in sick.
“We don’t have the coverage to do inperson,” she said.
educators and
A school in Tucson closed just a day after reopening for limited services for students after two staff members tested positive for COVID-19. Tolson Elementary School is likely the first school to close in the state this month due to the new coronavirus.
The school has been open to serve vulnerable students since Monday, but the educators who tested positive worked together the previous week, too, according to Tucson Unified spokesperson Karla Escamilla. No students were on campus, because every student had opted to learn online.
Escamilla wrote that the district followed all protocol from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Six employees were potentially exposed to COVID-19 and are quarantining for the next 14 days, she wrote.
“The school has been disinfected and will remain tentatively closed,” she wrote.
School districts are required by a state executive order to open at least one site for vulnerable students, which includes students with disabilities, lowincome students and English language learners. Tucson has other open on-site locations. Schools can also request waivers for the requirement from the state in case of an outbreak.